[article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Post Reply
Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by Hugh on Mon Apr 11th at 10:04am 2005



This is a discussion topic for the article "NPC and Item Placement Theory" by Hugh which can be found here

Article description:

Some pointers on NPC and item placement






Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by habboi on Sun Apr 17th at 4:48pm 2005


A very simple yet nice, helpful tutorial.
It certainly reminded me about making good maps!

I will rate this 9 / 10 because it would be more interesting if had a picture or two of the rocket in the corridor and the enemies taking cover etc.

*edit*

Also you could add something about music in maps because maps can get boring unless you have music playing in a boss battle etc




Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by Quasar on Sun Apr 17th at 5:55pm 2005


Gotta say, pictures wouldn't really help at all. This is a theory smiley

Great ideas, though. Why WOULD a rocket launcher be sitting in that bathtub?




Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by rs6 on Sun Apr 17th at 7:00pm 2005


Nicely written, and good theory about NPCs and weapon placement.



Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by ReNo on Mon Apr 18th at 2:25am 2005


Short and simple, but it covers some important topics and will no doubt make newcomers to level design give a little more thought to NPC and item placement.



Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by RabidMonkey777 on Mon Apr 18th at 2:43am 2005


Nice introductory tutorial. Could be more advanced, but that's not where it's aimed smiley



Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by omegaslayer on Mon Apr 18th at 3:58am 2005






Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by Junkyard God on Mon Apr 18th at 2:32pm 2005


Awsome stuff!



Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by half-dude on Mon Apr 18th at 11:47pm 2005


Cool I think the noobs will like this smiley



Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by DrGlass on Tue Apr 19th at 3:33am 2005


I liked it on VERC and I like it here



Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by omegaslayer on Wed Apr 20th at 4:54pm 2005


Just as a little side note: In Half Life 2 There is an entity called "dynamic resupply" (or something along those lines) and this enity will read how much ammo you have and then give you (spawn) a ammo piece that you need most. This can be helpful in some cases where you don't know what to give the player. Maybe you would like to edit the tutorial and add it in (just a thought, its still good with out it)



Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Thu Apr 21st at 9:10pm 2005


I thought this tutorial was very well organized and written. It clearly conveyed some very important ideas that all mappers should keep in mind.

I particularly liked this point: "Allies should be used sparingly. If you have access to them at any given time, they become taken for granted and used entirely too often for things they weren't intended to be used for, such as cannon fodder." A sure sign of immersion in a singleplayer level is if the player actually cares about the friendly NPCs. Well articulated.

Although you described how to prevent camping (by scattering health, weapons, and ammo smartly and sparingly), and even briefly glossed over this idea in the conclusion, I think you should have emphasized the importance items have on flow and gameplay in multiplayer maps. It seems to me that while actual construction of the level is important, the item placement can break an otherwise strong map, and save an otherwise average map. Perhaps this warrents its own section for emphasis?




Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by Hugh on Fri Apr 22nd at 3:55am 2005


Omegaslayer: Good idea, I'll try to research that one a bit and add it.

Morphine Addict: It probably does warrant its own section, but that implies that I'd know what I was talking about. smiley




Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by Foxpup on Tue May 17th at 3:17am 2005






Quote
Re: [article] NPC and Item Placement Theory
Posted by Rambo_6 on Tue May 24th at 1:13am 2005


It would help if you showed an example map which explains where items/weps should be placed. This would give a visual representation of the theory you just wrote smiley




Post Reply